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I don't think thundercats as a brand is as popular as geeks and nerds make it out to be. the cartoon and toyline (original) came and went and none of it REALLY became household names. it was remembered fondly but i think quickly abandoned. now that's not to say it has ZERO fanbase, it has one for sure, but it didn't make the same impact as he-man, transformers gi joe star wars etc. it's in a b class I think.

TMNT was HUGE and it's easy to revisit it, MOTU was huge and while it's easy to revisit, it's got the burden of have Mattel for it's parent.

Well, that's not the case in Europe. In therms of 80s shows, I would say that ThunderCats is easily the most popular franchise in the UK, France, Sweden and Greece. I'll have to get a bit off-topic here, but I need to express my thoughts about what really went on with the ThunderCats.

I believe that the problem with ThunderCats has to do with who has been handling it throughout the years. Rankin-Bass, being a young children's TV special producer company, had nothing to do with action shows. The show was more like a one-off, if not a finale for them (excluding spin-offs SilverHawks and TigerSharks). Also, instead of being a toy-driven show, it was purely a fresh idea that was followed shortly after by a toy line.

Additionally, the toy line was produced by an independent, smaller scale manufacturer (LJN). While Hasbro, Mattel and Playmates went on and "milked" their lines, LJN was more of an obscure company that became most known for its awful home video games rather than their wonderful toys, before closing down altogether in the early 90s.

The rights for both the animated show and toys have been in limbo until WB bought them in the early 2000s. Until then, no incarnations of any kind, neither any licensed merchandise had been produced for a long time, leaving the franchise lost in time, while all the others that you mentioned never really ceased to exist, due to their mainstream corporation nature and right holders.

Have Playmates confirmed series 2 is coming out? The vintage line seems to be selling really well (along with the new one) I'm surprised nothing has been revealed.

not exactly. they hinted that they would announce/reveal a series 2 at toy fair.

i haven't bought any of the classics. i like how they look and i love super articulated toys, but i've been moving towards smaller toys lately. if i was collecting them, i'd hope for at least shredder and a foot soldier next. kinda torn between filling it up with two more baddies (i.e. bebop and rocksteady), two good guys (splinter and april), or one of each (krang and either splinter or april). i'd also think it would be cool to get a bunch of foot soldier variants inspired by the konami games. it would be an easy way to stretch out the line.

The Target ad for this week shows TMNT toys for $6.99 this week, but I went to two Targets and they had nothing. A guy there said they have been out for a week and a half. You'd think if an item was in the sale ad, they'd have some extra stuff shipped for that week's ad. At least, I got my 4 year old a good amount of stuff a month or so ago for Christmas.

There are some Ninja turtle toys for McDonald's Happy Meals now. They look cheap by even Happy Meal standards, though.

The Target ad for this week shows TMNT toys for $6.99 this week, but I went to two Targets and they had nothing. A guy there said they have been out for a week and a half. You'd think if an item was in the sale ad, they'd have some extra stuff shipped for that week's ad. At least, I got my 4 year old a good amount of stuff a month or so ago for Christmas.

There are some Ninja turtle toys for McDonald's Happy Meals now. They look cheap by even Happy Meal standards, though.

Similar problem here. My sister wants a deluxe sword of omens for her birthday next week.
A store at the mall had them for $8, but they are now out of them. I will now have to search
around, and will most likely end up paying full price at Toys R Us. I knew I should I have grabbed a couple

The Target ad for this week shows TMNT toys for $6.99 this week, but I went to two Targets and they had nothing. A guy there said they have been out for a week and a half. You'd think if an item was in the sale ad, they'd have some extra stuff shipped for that week's ad. At least, I got my 4 year old a good amount of stuff a month or so ago for Christmas.
.

I'm getting the figures for my wife for Christmas, so I've been out shopping for them. There are three Targets within reasonable driving distance, and two of them were reasonably well stocked.

For the life of me, though, I cannot find either Splinter or Donatello. Splinter I can understand, but I am finding dozens of the other three turtles, and no Donny. It's bizarre.

Donatello is short packed in the new case ratio, his QTY was lowered to make room for the 3 extra figures (Metalhead, Dogpound, and Fish Face)

The toys are hot though, I have sold through 7 cases in the last month (that is 168 figures) and I have basically one complete set of 12 and a few random other figures left. If I am selling that many figures you can only imagine how ridiculous the sales are for the big chains that get thousands of cases

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by Orko's Magic Hat

Have Playmates confirmed series 2 is coming out? The vintage line seems to be selling really well (along with the new one) I'm surprised nothing has been revealed.

Toy Fair 2013, that is when Wave 2 will be discussed. The reason is because they can hardly keep up with Wave 1. on Tuesday I am just getting cases of Classics that I ordered from them in July

Owner Fantastic Plastic Toys. Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer. We ship international. We carry Monster High, Realm of the Underworld, Funko, NECA, Japanese Imports & much more! Creator of Mystical Warriors of the Ring, a 2" Animal Wrestling Minifigure line, with toys now made in China! Check us out!

I was only going to get 1 of the classic Turtles when they were announced purely for nostalgic reasons. I got Raphael in the summer, but once the whole lot came out here earlier this month, I HAD to get the rest. They look great together and I would totally get a Shredder, Splinter, April, Bebop and Rocksteady in this scale.

RE: The new Donatello, I agree, although overall his sculpt is good, his face isn't accurate to the cartoon - there is no geeky expression! I want to see the gap in his teeth too.

I was only going to get 1 of the classic Turtles when they were announced purely for nostalgic reasons. I got Raphael in the summer, but once the whole lot came out here earlier this month, I HAD to get the rest. They look great together and I would totally get a Shredder, Splinter, April, Bebop and Rocksteady in this scale.

RE: The new Donatello, I agree, although overall his sculpt is good, his face isn't accurate to the cartoon - there is no geeky expression! I want to see the gap in his teeth too.

I haven't watched the actual cartoon, so I can't speak to that. I just don't like the "Lanky" body they gave him. Maybe I'm just used to them being the same size. It just doesn't work for me. His weapon is not particularly well done, either. He's the only one who looks like he is dieting, and the only one who with a closed mouth. Makes him stand out too much.

Finally got my Classics cases I ordered from Playmates over the summer, so hopefully if I am getting them that means other retailers will be getting them and they will filter into more areas then Amazon and Toys R Us

I have went through all of the figures and I could not find a bad lazy eye so at least it looks like that is under control.

Owner Fantastic Plastic Toys. Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer. We ship international. We carry Monster High, Realm of the Underworld, Funko, NECA, Japanese Imports & much more! Creator of Mystical Warriors of the Ring, a 2" Animal Wrestling Minifigure line, with toys now made in China! Check us out!

Any news on TMNT Classics continuation?

I did a search on Google that turned up nothing. Is this line (TMNT Classics) going to continue? I'd love to see at least a few staples, like Shredder, Rocksteady, Bebop, and a few of my second tier favs like Ace Duck, Wing nut and Screwloose, Usagi Yojimbo etc. Is there a good place to get news for Turtles in general, or for this line in particular?

In therms of 80s shows, I would say that ThunderCats is easily the most popular franchise in the UK, France, Sweden and Greece.

Absolute hogwash when it comes to Sweden (and the rest of Scandinavia). I was a kid during the relevant period, and NOBODY had Thundercats or watched the show (it was only available on a few VHS's and for people who had super-expensive satellite TV). EVERYONE had MOTU, watched MOTU on some of the TV channels. Same with Transformers, and eventually TMNT. Thundercats was such a brief glimmer in the eye over here that I remember when they sold off everything, including VHS tapes for a pittance only about a year after it was introduced. To illustrate how obscure Thundercats is up here, when we had an 80's nostalgia meetup with a bunch of toy collectors last year, some of them were extremely surprised to hear that Thundercats was even released in Sweden, Denmark or Norway. They thought it was a US brand only!

I'm getting the figures for my wife for Christmas, so I've been out shopping for them. There are three Targets within reasonable driving distance, and two of them were reasonably well stocked.

For the life of me, though, I cannot find either Splinter or Donatello. Splinter I can understand, but I am finding dozens of the other three turtles, and no Donny. It's bizarre.

weird over here all that was left was splinters and aprils !! none of the green 4 but when they did have the turtles the next time I went in it was only raph left who I already have I need to get leo and Mikey to complete my set

Well, that's not the case in Europe. In therms of 80s shows, I would say that ThunderCats is easily the most popular franchise in the UK, France, Sweden and Greece. I'll have to get a bit off-topic here, but I need to express my thoughts about what really went on with the ThunderCats.

TMNT was definetly MUCH popular in the UK than Thundercats. The UK was in the grip of Turtle fever - I remember watching the news when I was small as they were saying there was too much demand for the figures and they were selling out over Christmas. I remember waiting AGES for any Turtle toys to show up in the toy shops as they always sold out lightning fast.

Thundercats was popular, but I'd say at the same level as Transformers and Ghostbusters in the UK. MOTU was more popular - it was always difficult to get He-Man and a few other key characters in stores - I didn't get an original He-Man until 1987!

I remember Thundercats was re-run in the early 90s as well as the toys being pushed harder than they were in the mid/late 80s. I think that is where Thundercats popularity rose in the UK as it gave it time to shine. I know I didn't pay much attention to TCats in the 80s but definetly became a fan in the 90s.

I did a search on Google that turned up nothing. Is this line (TMNT Classics) going to continue? I'd love to see at least a few staples, like Shredder, Rocksteady, Bebop, and a few of my second tier favs like Ace Duck, Wing nut and Screwloose, Usagi Yojimbo etc. Is there a good place to get news for Turtles in general, or for this line in particular?

Yes, Wave 2 news will come at Toy Fair

Owner Fantastic Plastic Toys. Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer. We ship international. We carry Monster High, Realm of the Underworld, Funko, NECA, Japanese Imports & much more! Creator of Mystical Warriors of the Ring, a 2" Animal Wrestling Minifigure line, with toys now made in China! Check us out!